Chapter 13 Taras Bulba - Quarter Four

The next day, Dallas Bulba discussed with the new head how to incite the Chaporosh people to rise up for a cause.The commander was a clever and cunning Cossack, who had read the temper of the Zaporosh, and at first he said: "It is wrong to break the oath, and nothing can be said." Then, after a short silence, he added, " It doesn't matter, that's all right; we won't break the oath, but we can figure something out. Just call people together, don't say I ordered it, just say it's voluntary. You know the future What should be done. I accompanied the chiefs and rushed to the square immediately, pretending that we didn't know anything."

Less than an hour after their conversation, the jiegu drum sounded.Drunken and innocent Cossacks suddenly assembled.Countless Cossack hats suddenly moved in the square.All I could hear was a noisy conversation: "Who?...Why?...What are you calling a meeting with drums for?" No one answered.At last word spread in every corner: "The energy of the Cossacks is wasted: there is no war! . . . The chiefs have been dozing, their eyes are stuffed with grease! . . . There seems to be no truth in the world The other Cossacks listened at first, but then they said it themselves: "There is indeed no truth in the world!" "The leaders seemed to be very surprised when they heard these words. Finally, the head of the regiment stepped forward and said:

"Fellows of Zaporos, please allow me to say a few words!" "Say it!" "And now I want to tell you, honorable fellow countrymen, that you probably know very well that many Zaporoches owed so much money to the Jews and their brothers in the tavern that now even ghosts don't believe in them. Next I And let me tell you, there are a lot of young men who haven't seen war since they were born, but—you know, folks—you can't live without war. If he didn't kill a Mohammedan, he What kind of Zaporosh is he?" "He speaks well," thought Bulba. "But folks, don't think I'm saying this to break the peace: God won't! That's all I'm saying. And, it's a crime to say, what does our church look like: by the grace of God, the Setch has been established It has been several years, but until now, not to mention the exterior of the church, even the icons inside have not been decorated. No one has even thought of adding silver to the icons! All the icons can get are some Cossacks It's nothing more than what was left in the will. But their donations are also very meager, because they almost traded everything for alcohol during their lifetime. So I say this work, not to start a war with Islam: we Peace has been made with the Sultan, and if we break it we shall be guilty of great crimes, for we have sworn oaths according to our laws."

"Why does he talk so upside down?" Bulba said to himself. "That's why I say, folks, that war is out of the question. The honor of chivalry forbids it. But in my humble opinion, I think this way: send some young men out in a few sampans, and put the What do you think of a little looting along the coast of Natolia, folks?" ① Natolia, that is, Anatolia, the ancient name of Asia Minor, is now part of Turkey. "Take us, take us all!" shouted the crowd from all directions, "We will sacrifice our heads for our faith!" The regimental commander was taken aback; it never occurred to him to stir up all the Zaporos: he felt that in the present situation it would be wrong to break the peace.

"Fellows, please allow me to say one more word!" "Enough!" shouted the Zaporosh people, "you can't say anything better!" "Since that is the case, there is no way. I am a servant of your will: this is obvious, and it is written in the Holy Book: the voice of the people is the voice of God. A wiser thing than all the people think , can't think of it. But be careful: the sultan will not let young people enjoy this kind of joy with impunity. We must be ready at this time, we must maintain a strong force, so that we will not be afraid Anyone. The Tatars might come and attack us while we're away: these Turkish dogs, they don't dare to show their faces when the master is at home, they dare not come near your house, but they will bite you from behind heel, and it bites you so badly. Besides, if I have to tell the truth, we don't have enough sampans in store, and we don't have enough gunpowder to get everyone out with the army. But when it comes to I, I am for anything: I am the servant of your will."

The cunning chief was silent.A crowd of people whispered, and the captains of the battalion began to discuss; fortunately, there were not many people drunk, so they decided to follow reasonable advice. Several people immediately set off to the military warehouse on the other side of the Dnieper River, where the impenetrable secret room was hidden in the bottom of the water and deep in the reeds, hiding the funds of the army and some of the weapons seized from the enemy.Others ran to inspect the sampans and gear them up for the journey.In an instant, a large group of people crowded the shore.Several carpenters appeared with axes in hand.Old ones, tanned ones, broad-shouldered ones, grizzled ones and black ones.The Zaporos all rolled up their knickerbockers, stood knee-deep in the water, and pulled the boat across from the shore with a thick rope.Others brought ready-made, dry timber and trees of all kinds.Here a sampan is fitted with planks; there it is turned upside down, the gaps are caulked and oiled; It is fastened to the side of other sampans, lest they should be swallowed up by the raging waves; and yonder, far off, many fires are kindled along the shore, and resinous resins are boiled in copper pots.The scolding of the old and experienced people guiding the young and the shouts of labor resounded over the surroundings: the whole lively river bank became turbulent and alive.

At this moment a large ferry boat began to dock.A group of people standing at the bow were far away, and those who were far away were waving their hands. These were some ragged long gowns and jackets, which were not neat.Many had nothing but a shirt and a pipe, proving that they had just escaped some catastrophe, or else had drunk so much that they had gambled everything they had.A short, broad-shouldered Cossack of about twenty stepped out from among them and stood in front.He yelled and waved louder than all the others, but his work could not be heard amid the knocking and shouting of the workmen.

"What are you here for?" When Duban turned to land, the head of the group asked. All the workers put down their work, raised their axes and chisels, and stopped hammering and chiseling, but just watched expectantly. "A catastrophe!" cried the little Cossack from the ferry. "What disaster?" -May I say a few words, folks of Zaporos? " "Say it!" "Otherwise, shall we hold a general meeting?" "Come on, we're all here." The people on the shore huddled together. "Have you heard nothing of what is going on in the territory of the Cossack commander?"

"What's going on?" said a battalion captain. "Why, look at what you said! What's the matter? The Tartars probably covered your ears with paste, so you didn't hear anything." "Say, what happened over there?" "Speaking of what happened over there, it has never been seen since you were born and baptized!" "Tell us what happened, the dog!" cried one of the crowd, clearly unable to bear it any longer. "Things have come to a point where the holy church is no longer ours." "Why isn't it ours?" "The churches are mortgaged to the Jews now. If the money is advanced to the Jews, the Mass cannot be celebrated.—What are you talking about?"

"And the custard can't be sacrificed unless Jew the dog marks it with his unclean hands." "He lied, brethren, it is impossible for unclean Jews to mark holy custard!" "Listen! . . . I'm not done yet: there are Catholic haters who are now running all over Ukraine in a buggy. It's not so bad to be in a buggy, the bad thing is Instead of horses, they use Orthodox Christians to drive. Listen! I'm not done yet: Jewish women are said to have taken the priest's vestments to sew skirts on. That's what happened in Ukraine. Folks , but you're sitting here in Zaporosh region drinking and playing, probably the Tatars have frightened you, you've lost your eyes and ears - nothing, you've got nothing know what's going on in the world."

"Shut up, shut up!" interrupted the regimental commander, who had been standing upright with his eyes down on the ground like all the Zaporoshis, who would never stop at any important event. It will immediately explode involuntarily, but it is always silent and restrained, and at the same time, it accumulates the power of thunderous anger in the silence. "Shut up, I'll say something too. What's the matter with you,--did the devil beat your father:--what have you done! Don't you have sabers? How can you put up with this Acts of lawlessness?" "Well, it's our willingness to put up with such lawlessness! Try it, you know, there are fifty thousand Poles alone, and there's no need to hide that there are still many dogs among our own people who have converted to theirs. Faith." "What did your captains, your wing captains do?" "What happened to the captains, God bless, don't let any of us encounter it." "What's the matter?" "Here it goes: the general was blown up in a copper bull. Now resting in Warsaw, the hands and heads of the regiment captains were displayed in the market. This is what happened to the regiment captains!" The whole crowd was excited.At first, the coast area was momentarily shrouded in the silence before the storm, and then suddenly there was a sound of conversation, and all the people on the shore were discussing. "What! The Christian Church is mortgaged to the Jews! Catholic monks are driving Orthodox Christians on the haunches! What! Allow these damned heretics to abuse people on Russian soil! This is how they treat regiment captains and commanders! No more! It will not be allowed to continue like this!" This kind of activity spread to all corners, and the Zaporoshi shouted and felt their own strength.This is no longer the excitement of frivolous people: all people who are agitated have deep and strong characters. They will not get excited quickly, but once they get excited, they will put the enthusiasm in the heart of ordinary people tenaciously, Keep it up for a long time. "Hang all the Jews!" cried someone from among the crowd. "Let them no longer sew skirts for Jewish women with priest's vestments! Let them no longer mark holy custard cakes! Drown all these heretics in the Dnieper!" These words, uttered by someone in the crowd, passed over everyone's heads like a flash of lightning, and the crowd, wishing to kill all the Jews, went straight to the suburbs. The poor descendants of the Israelites lost even what little courage they had, and hid in empty wine barrels and stoves, and even under the skirts of their Jewish wives; but the Cossacks everywhere Find them out. "Good man!" cried a tall, thin Jew like a stick, protruding his mournful face distorted by fear from among a group of companions, "good man! Let's just say a word." , in a word! We have something to tell you that you have never heard before, and it is so important that it is impossible to describe how important it is:" "Well, let them talk," said Bulba, who always liked to hear the complaints of the accused. "Good man!" said the Jew. "Such a man has never been seen. In all honesty, I have never seen such a man! Such a kind, kind, and brave man has never existed in the world! . . . " His voice dropped, out of fear And trembling. "How could we have any ill intentions for the Tzaporos! The people who rent out land in Ukraine are not ours at all! Those people are not Jews at all: God knows what they are. People like that, only match Spit in his face and push him away! They'd all say the same. Wouldn't they, Shrema; and you, Shmuel?" "In good conscience, it's the truth!" Shliema and Shmuel, both as pale as clay, answered from the crowd in their battered felt hats. "We never negotiated with the enemy," continued the tall Jew. "We don't even want to have anything to do with Catholics: to hell with them! We are like brothers to the Zaporos..." "What? The Zaporos are brothers to you?" said one of the crowd. "Stop wishful thinking, you damned Jews! Folks, throw 'em into the Dnieper! Drown them all, you evil heretics!" These words are a signal.People grabbed the Jews by the arms and started throwing them into the waves.There were mournful cries from all directions, but the stern Zaporosh just kept laughing as he watched the Jews' shoes and socks kicking in the air.The poor rhetorician, who had brought upon himself a misfortune, was seized by his gown, and he escaped from his shell, and, wearing only a striped, tight waistcoat, ran and embraced Bulba's leg, begging in a miserable voice. road: "Good sir, good lord! I know your brother, the late Dorosa! He was a soldier who honored all knights. When he was a captive of the Turks and needed money for his ransom, I gave him Eight hundred Caixing.①" ①The name of the ancient gold coin. "You know my brother?" Taras asked. "Really, yes! He is a generous gentleman." "What's your name?" "Yan Kell." "Well," said Taras, and after thinking for a moment, turning to the Cossacks, he said: "There is always time to hang this Jew if necessary, but leave him to me today. " Having said this, Taras led him to his baggage wagon, and his Cossacks stood beside it. "Climb under the wagon, and lie still; brothers, don't let the Jew go." Having given his orders, he set out for the square, where the whole crowd had already assembled.In an instant, everyone left the job of equipping the boats and left the river bank, for now it was an expedition by land and not by sea, and what was needed was carts and horses instead of boats and Cossack cargo ships.It is true that everyone, old and young, wanted to go on an expedition; heeded by the advice of all the chiefs, battalion captains, and regimental commanders, and with the will of Zaporosh's entire army, they decided to go straight to Poland and to fight for the war. To avenge all evil deeds and insults to faith and Cossack honor, plunder cities, set fire to villages and crops, and become famous throughout the steppes.Everyone immediately fastened their belts and took up their weapons.The regimental commander was in such high spirits that he seemed to have grown a full argentina.He was no longer the man who scrupulously carried out the frivolous wishes of free people; he was a ruler with unlimited power.He is a tyrant who only knows how to give orders.When he, like an experienced man who is not the first to carry out a well-thought-out plan, is not at all hoarse or panic-stricken, but whispers his orders in cadenced tones, all willful and dissolute All the knights stood in silence, bowing their heads respectfully, not daring to raise their eyes. "Check it out, everyone, check it out!" he said. "Pack up the baggage wagons and resin barrels, and try out your weapons. Don't take too many clothes with you: one shirt each, strips of knickerbockers, and a pot of porridge and maize will suffice. No one is allowed to take anything more! As for food, everything necessary is loaded on the baggage cart. Two horses are required for each person. Four hundred cattle must be prepared, because there are shallows and muddy places. They are needed. Most of all order is to be maintained, folks. I know there are some among you who would tear garnets and costly velvets as soon as God gave them a chance to capture anything Make yourself foot bindings. Get rid of this ghost habit, throw away skirts and such, and only carry weapons, if you can find good ones; and gold coins and silver markets, because these are very useful things, do whatever you want There is nothing without them. I will tell you beforehand, fellow countrymen: there will be no trial for anyone who is drunk on the march. I will order him to be tied like a dog to a baggage wagon. Let him go, whoever he is, even the bravest Cossack in the army. He will be shot like a dog on the spot, and his body will not be buried, but will be eaten by wild birds, because the drunkard You don't deserve a Christian funeral on the march. Listen to the old men in everything you do, young man! You don't need to make a fuss about a bullet, or a knife wound on the head, or whatever. Put a pack of gunpowder in a wine glass and mix it up, drink it in one gulp, and you won't even have a fever if you're all right; if the wound is not too big, just grab a piece of soil and spit it out The spittle is on the palm of the hand, rubbed together, applied to the wound, and the wound is closed. Well, go to the real thing, go, young man, go to the real thing without haste!" As soon as the head of the regiment said this, all the Cossacks started to fight as soon as he finished speaking.The whole Setch came to life, and nowhere could he find a drunk, as if there had never been such a man among the Cossacks.Some men were repairing the hoops of the wheels, and new axles were being put on the carts; some were carrying the grain-sacks to the baggage carts, and the weapons were being piled on to several other carts; some were driving horses and oxen;The sound of horses' hoofs, the sound of gun testing, the clanging of sabers, the sound of cattle, the sound of rolling vehicles, conversations, loud shouts, and the sound of horses being driven.Soon the line of Cossacks spread so far and wide over the whole field that if anyone wanted to run from the front to the rear of the line, it would take a long time to get there.In a small wooden chapel, a priest was offering prayers and pouring holy water; the cross was kissed.As the procession moved forward from the Setch, all the Zaporos looked back. "Good-bye, our mother!" said he, almost in unison, "and may God save you from all misfortune!" As he rode through the outskirts Taras Bulba saw that his Jews had set up a tented stall selling flints, chisels, gunpowder, and all kinds of military medicine for the road: there was even loaf of bread and long loaves. "What a Jew!" thought Taras, riding up to him, and saying: "Fool, what are you doing sitting here? Do you want someone to shoot you like a sparrow?" In reply, Jankel moved closer to him, gestured with both hands, as if to tell him some secret, and said: "Just keep quiet, sir, and don't say to anyone: Among the Cossack baggage wagons is mine: it carries all kinds of things that the Cossacks need, and I will provide you with all kinds of food on the way. The pricing is something that hasn't been marked by any Jew. It's true; it's true." Shrugging his shoulders, Taras Bulba, marveling at the ingenuity of the Jew, galloped towards the ranks.